fishy poll

[Hoosier Taxidermist]

Just trying to find out if any of you are fish taxidermist.

[nal2009]

Never tried a fish yet, I have a bass in the freezer but don't want to get into it. I'm afraid anything with scales is too easy for me to mess up.

[tomdes]

Gina,

Fish aren't that bad to mount, I think the painting is the toughest even as many as I've done. I use purchased forms and I've come to learn they all need to be modified to some degree to fit the skin. Try that bass, you'll be surprised with the outcome...

[jwj4856]

Hi everyone,
I do almost everything in my shop but I think fish are probably what I do best. They are not as bad as the reputation they are given, I find them a lot easier than birds.

[jrosbor]

I'm a bad dad! I pawn them off on my daughter. She does them better than me and she is only 11 years old.

[mountman]

I love doing fish they are my favorite critter, as a matter of fact if any of you hate fish I'll wholesale some for you. and Nina, try out that bass if you dont like how it comes out I have 6 more in the freezer your welcome to, good luck, Derek

[ruggedpirate]

me to I love fish.....great site

[deer4ager]

Fish are ok. I just prefer deer.

[mrdux]

I do lots of fish, mostly crappie, shellcrackers and smallmouths(several largemouths). I learned using heads that I cast but most of my customers prefer skin mounts with the real head. I recently got in a 17 pound smallmouth buffalo(similar to a carp) from a guy from South Africa who was vacationing here. That one is going to be challenging I'm afraid! I'm now getting into silicone casting heads and fins. I will eventually not give my customers a choice on how the mount is done. It's not a good situation to let your customers dictate how you do your work. I also do a lot of reproductions and repair/repainting of old fish mounts.

I love painting fish but didn't learn to love it till I bought a Iwata Custom Micron B airbrush. It's a major investment but has made light-years difference in my painting. I know lots of folks get frustrated when they are using cheap equipment and quit fish painting. I'm not saying that it isn't possible to do award winning work with cheap airbrushes, it's just not possible for me.The best paint job on any fish is really not a paint job, it's just a high-light of what is really there. Most folks are surprised when I tell them that an 8 pound bass probably has less than a teasp00n full of paint on it.

[deer4ager]

That is the key, VERY light with the paint. You can't even see the irridesents go on but, I use enviro-tex for gloss and that stuff just brings the color out great.

[mikey88]

Im starting to mount my first bass here in a couple of weeks and im going to try my luck with hand painting to start out with. We will see how this turns out when im done i will post it on here

[richbo]

I watched a video on fish, but it didn't seem to give enough info for me. Hopefully when I get home, I will be hooking up with Gary Brusch to get some lessons. I hear he is one of the best and hopefully once I can see it done and get some hands on, I will be set.

[fleshnertaxidermy]

i do all the mount work on fish then i send them off to get painted. Ive not developed a good enoungh paint job yet.

[I once was thirtyeightspread]

can't hold my breath long enough under water to mount a fish..........

[THE NEW AD MINISTRATORS INC]

any body think i smell like a fish?